Praises to the Twenty-One Taras

These well-known verses of praise have one verse for each of twenty-one forms of Tara and arose from the tantra known as “Offering Praise to Tara through Twenty-One [verses] of Homage” (sgrol ma la phyag 'tshal ba nyi shu gcig gis bstod pa) which can be found in the Derge Kangyur, Volume 81 - pp.435-437.

Each of the twenty-one forms of Tara is dedicated to a specific activity and there are also different levels of meaning for each verse of homage. In addition, there are several traditions of iconography for these forms of Tara – the five main ones being the traditions of Suryagupta, Atisha, Sadhana-samucchaya, Longchen Nyingtik (Jikmé Lingpa) and Chokgyur Lingpa. The first three are from the Indian tradition and the last two are from the Tibetan terma tradition.

Further Reading:

‘The Smile of the Sun and Moon’ by Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche. Published by Sky Dancer Press. ISBN 1-880975-07-6

‘Skillful Grace: Tara Practice for Our Time’ by Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, Trulshik Adeu Rinpoche. Published by Rangjung Yeshe Publications. ISBN-10: 962-7341-61-1

‘Tara’s Enlightened Activity’ by Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche & Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche. Published by Snow Lion Publications. ISBN-10: 1-55939-287-8

Internal Links

Twenty-One Taras

External Links

• Five systems of Twenty-one Taras from Himalayan Art
• Translation of the Praises to the Twenty-one Taras by Alexander Berzin
• Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche chanting the Prayer to the Twenty-One Taras, remixed by Gary Azukx Dyson